It’s probably a detail for you but for some NBA franchises, it means a lot. Because with the entry into force of the new collective agreement from July 6, there is a small change in the level of the wage bill which explains in particular why the Thunder agreed to get their hands on Davis Bertans.
Indeed, in the current collective agreement, the teams had to spend at least 90% of the salary cap, under penalty of having to pay the difference to the other players in the workforce.
A calendar change that changes everything
Clearly, this season, franchises had to spend at least $111.3 million in payroll, out of the $123.7 million salary cap. The rule will be the same for the next collective agreement with, however, a small subtlety that changes everything. Until now, this rate of 90% had to be reached at the end of the season, which generally gave clubs time to adjust by recruiting high salaries during the campaign.
Except that as Mark Cuban reminds us in an interview for Dallas radio, from next season, this rate of 90% must be reached at the start of the campaign. And that’s what allowed the Mavericks to get rid of Davis Bertans’ contract.
“Believe it or not, but we were really looking for the best player available”thus explained the owner on the strategy of his team in the Draft. “The tiebreakers were made according to the positions we needed and the skills we were looking for. And (Lively), he’s the one we wanted. He was available, and we would have taken him in 10th place if we hadn’t been able to close the deal”.
But the Mavericks managed to reach an agreement with the Thunder, to therefore drop two places in the Draft, without losing the player they coveted, while getting rid of Davis Bertans and creating a “trade exception” which also allowed to get Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxence Prosper in stride.
Davis Bertans to fill
“What’s different this year and what prompted us to call the teams is that in the past there was a minimum amount that a team had to spend, but you didn’t have to reach that amount before the end of the year “says Mark Cuban. “This year, this amount must be reached from the first day of the season. »
For the Thunder, whose workforce is made up of “small contracts”, apart from that of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and who does not intend to make waves at the “free agency”, recovering Davis Bertans was therefore a way to satisfy the new financial requirements of the league, by reaching the salary floor at the start of the season.
“So we talked to all the teams that had financial leeway and said, ‘Listen, if you’re interested in a trade, here are some players that we would consider moving as part of a good trade.’ OKC really wanted Bertans and we wanted to make a trade, so we decided not to get anything back and go down two places. So it’s a good deal for them. It allows them to reach the minimum they need to spend to start the season and it allowed us to get the player we wanted and make room (financially)” concludes Mark Cuban.
